So you’ve spent some time with the Cry Baby® Standard Wah, getting a feel for how its sweep works and when to use it to season up your licks. The time has come to step up your Cry Baby Wah game, to branch out and explore different tonal possibilities. But there’s so many to choose form—where to begin?

We put this cheat sheet together to help you find a starting point. This guide is broken down by musical genre/style. It’s meant to be a general overview—your personal tastes and playing style will, and should always be, the deciding factor when you choose your next Cry Baby Wah.

Modern Hard Rock

Jerry Cantrell Cry Baby Wah: This wah is very expressive and throaty with just the right amount of tone and response versatility thanks to a knob on the side that allows you to lower the frequency of the toe-down position.

Cry Baby 535Q Multi-Wah: This is the Swiss Army Knife of wahs. With an adjustable Q, six different selectable frequency ranges, and an adjustable output boost, the 535Q is perfect for players who like to tweak and tailor their sound from rig to rig and song to song.

Blues and Blues Rock

Buddy Guy Cry Baby Wah: Smooth, warm, and voiced like a bell. For straight up electric blues, what more could you want?

Clyde McCoy® Cry Baby Wah: This is our tribute to the very first wah pedal. Its super throaty and super expressive thanks to its Halo Inductor. This wah is great for blues and blues rock, but it sounds just as great when used for vintage hard rock.

John Petrucci Cry Baby Wah: If you want unprecedented control over your wah’s tonal spectrum, this is the wah you need on your pedalboard. It’s got all of the controls of the Cry Baby Rack Wah: Q, Volume, and six EQ controls. Right out of the box this wah is set to John’s own rack wah settings, but all you need to do is remove the bottom plate to re-tune the pedal to your own shredding delight.

Wild Cards

MC404 CAE Wah: This wah is great if you want to go back and forth betweeen vintage and modern sounds thanks to its switchable red and yellow Fasel Inductors. Quite handy if you play in a cover band. It’s also got a built-in boost so you can put your signal right in front of the mix.

Cry Baby 105Q Bass Wah: This one isn’t just for bass players! It has the deepest and broadest range, so if you’re a guitar player who wants a wah tone that’s rich and dark with a wide sweep, do yourself a favor and test this pedal out. It doesn’t use an inductor like most wahs. Rather, it’s voiced more like a classic envelope filter, which can get quite heavy! And with auto-return switching, you can step in and out of the effect for a seamless live experience.

Go Small

Cry Baby® Mini Wah: If you’re really tight on space, or you’re putting a down-sized travel board together, get yourself a Cry Baby Mini Wah. It’s got three different voices—GCB95 for the Cry Baby Standard Wah sound, Vintage for a subtler sound, and Low for a dark and throaty sound—in housing that’s half the size but can still take all the beatings on the road.

In 2017, we’re celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Cry Baby® Wah, first released in 1967 by the Thomas Organ Company. For 35 of those years, the Cry Baby Wah has been a part of the Dunlop family of products. In 1982, we acquired all the original tooling and machinery used by the Thomas Organ Company and Jen Elettronica when they manufactured the very first Cry Baby pedals. We’ve been making wahs ever since—longer than any other company—and our diverse range of wah pedals is a testament to that fact. Whatever your playing style, there’s a Cry Baby Wah to help you express your musical vision.

Let’s take a look at the different pedals that make up the core of the Cry Baby line and see what they have to offer.

1982: GCB95 Cry Baby Standard Wah

We introduced the GCB95 Cry Baby® Wah, our first, in 1982. Music had changed a lot since 1967, and players had different tonal tastes. Our engineers designed the GCB95 accordingly, raising the frequency range and giving it a more pronounced wah effect. The result was a more up front and aggressive modern sound.

Once the GCB95’s sound was dialed in, the next task was to standardize production quality. As with many other pedals in its day, the original Cry Baby models varied quite a bit when it came to circuit components—builders didn’t always use the same parts from batch to batch. That made sound quality inconsistent from pedal to pedal.

Dunlop’s engineers created new quality standards by carefully scrutinizing every component, from potentiometers and switches to inductors to find the parts that created the best overall sound. Components have changed over the years, most often to improve performance, but our team always ensures that they adhere to the pedal’s sonic profile. Important changes to the GCB95 over the years have been to reduce RF interference and the replacement of our original custom inductor with the classic red Fasel Inductor in 2004 to take advantage of its lush, expressive character.

The takeaway? The GCB95 is a modern interpretation of the original Cry Baby sound, and it’s for players who want a straight-up, no frills wah pedal that cut through the mix and make itself known.

1994: Cry Baby 535Q Multi-Wah

The Cry Baby® 535Q Multi-Wah is the Swiss Army Knife of wah pedals. Released in 1994, a time when guitar players were becoming more involved in shaping and personalizing their sound than ever, the 535Q gave players unprecedented control over the most important wah parameters do they could make the Cry Baby sound their own.

The 535Q’s first innovation—the Range Selector control—allows you to select the pedal’s frequency range. Early versions of this pedal provided four frequencies, but two more were added later on. All six ranges are based on the unique tonal characteristics of the best sounding wah pedals we could get our hands on, with input from some of the best guitar players on the planet.

Next, our engineers added the the Variable Q control, which allows you to adjust the 535Q’s response from an extremely sharp quack to a subtle broad bandpass sound.

Finally, the 535Q has a switchable boost that can add up to +18dB with its Volume control. The boost was necessary because, at lower Q settings, there is a reduction in output volume. To compensate, we added a very low-noise Class A op-amp.

Since its release, the 535Q Multi-Wah has become our flagship Cry Baby pedal, and its roster of users has grown since its inception to include a diverse selection of the world’s top musicians, from Soundgarden and Tool to the Allman Brothers and Marcus Miller. If you like always having the option to tweak and adjust your sound, this is the Cry Baby Wah for you.

1999: Cry Baby 105Q Bass Wah

In 1999, we released the Cry Baby® 105Q Bass Wah, the first wah designed from the ground up specifically for bass players. Its sound is based on an iconic 1970s envelope filter used by many rock and funk bass players.

Unlike that pedal, though, the 105Q Bass Wah is optimized for bass frequencies. When you step on the rocker—which engages automatically with auto-return switch so you can step in and out of the effect with ease—the wah effect is applied only to the high and midrange frequencies of your signal. This leaves your low end intact so you can hold down the fundamental while taking solos or fills. With controls for Q response and boosting gain, you can dial in just how expressive and in your face your wah sound gets.

Bass players—when you step on the 105Q Wah, you’re going to sound big, deep, and groovy. But this pedal isn’t just for you—its broad, deep range has earned it a home on the boards of many guitar players who tune down or just want a thicker Cry Baby sound. If you’re a bottom-dweller, this is the Cry Baby Wah to have.

2000: Cry Baby 95Q Wah

The turn of the millennium saw the release of the Cry Baby® 95Q Wah—it combines the circuitry of the GCB95 Cry Baby Standard Wah with the features and functionality of the 105Q Bass Wah.

If you dig the more aggressive frequency range of the GCB95 but want more control over the effect’s intensity and the ability to boost your signal, this is the wah for you. Use the Q control to dial in the wah response to your taste and use the Boost control to dial in your desired amount of gain, up to +15dB. Kick the red switch on the side to activate the boost, and step on the rocker to engage the effect—like the 105Q, the 95Q Wah uses convenient auto-return switching.

2003: GCB95F Cry Baby Classic Wah

In 2003, we released the Cry Baby® Classic Wah, which interprets classic wah sound through the circuitry of the GCB95, with some key adjustments to give it that vintage tonal flavor.

First, Dunlop’s engineers lowered the pedal’s frequency center and softened the response of the effect to give the Cry Baby Classic Wah the darker, more subtle sound associated with early wahs.

Next, they added the famous red Fasel Inductor—also later added to the GCB95, as previously mentioned—to give it that lush, vocal sound. Finally, for tonal purists, the Cry Baby Classic Wah features true bypass switching.

2014: CM95 Clyde McCoy Cry Baby Wah

The very first wah wah pedal available to the guitar playing public was called the Clyde McCoy Wah. Those models are known for their distinctly throaty sound and expressive sweep, which was provided by the Halo Inductor. Unfortunately, original pedals are rare and expensive. For years, if you wanted that sound, you had to have some time and money to spend.

That changed in 2014 when we released the Clyde McCoy Cry Baby® Wah. It makes that throaty voice and expressive sweep available to all players—not just the collectors—while offering gigging players the performance and convenience they need both on the road and in the studio.

The first thing we had to do was address Halo Inductors’ nasty habit of generating unwanted microphonic noise. Using those vintage examples as a blueprint, our engineers identified the unstable cup core as the culprit and designed a new Halo inductor from scratch. With a stabilized cup core, the HI-01 Halo Inductor sounds as close to the originals as you can get, only more controlled and more musical.

The originals usually, if not always, had to have the felt removed, the switch lowered, and the rotation of the pot adjusted to get a wider sweep range. The CM95 has this taken care of right out of the box. Next, we made sure to include true bypass switching for tonal purists and an AC jack for pedalboard convenience.

These efforts made the Clyde McCoy Cry Baby Wah the definitive recreation of the Clyde McCoy circuit and sound, and now it’s available to all players to suit their modern needs.

2015: CBM95 Cry Baby Mini Wah

In 2015, we released our first of our Cry Baby® Wahs—the CBM95. At half the size of a standard Cry Baby Wah, this pedal is perfect for players with downsized travel boards or players who have wanted to try a Cry Baby Wah but were reluctant to do so because of the footprint.

And even if space isn’t an issue on your board, this pedal sounds great in its own right thanks to its tonal versatility. Equipped with the red Fasel inductor, the CBM95 comes with our three most popular frequency ranges, which you can select by removing the bottom plate and using the internal 3-position switch. The High setting (H) gives you the same sound as the GCB95, while the Mid setting (M) gives you more of a classic or vintage sounding range, and the Low setting (L) gives you a darker sound. The CBM95 will get you close to the voice of your favorite standard-sized Cry Baby Wah and save pedalboard space at the same time.

The CBM95 retains the physical sweep range of its larger brethren so that you have just as much control over the range of the effect, and this pedal’s high quality construction mean that it can take a beating on the road. We designed the CBM95 for serious, rigorous performance—it’s not just a cute little afterthought. Since its release, the Cry Baby Mini Wah has been joined by the Cry Baby® 105Q Mini Bass Wah and the Jimi Hendrix™ Cry Baby® Mini Wah.

After 50 years, the Cry Baby line offers players more ways to express themselves than ever. There’s no better place to start than these seven Cry Baby Wahs.

Believe it or not, there actually was a time when there was no wah wah. It’s hard to imagine funk, blues, rock, and soul—and guitar music in general—without the vocal, squawky, yow-y sounds that the wah pedal can produce. But it’s true. There wasn’t always wah. Someone had to invent it. Someone did, and things have never been the same. And much like all cola beverages came to be associated with one iconic brand name, the world knows wah wah by the name Cry Baby®. To find out how we got to this funky, expressive, Cry Baby place, however, we need to back up.Load More

The year: 1966. Enter Thomas Organ Company engineer Brad Plunkett, an engineer tasked with coming up with a tone circuit. While testing, he discovered that he had accidentally invented something way beyond a normal tone control. Plunkett put it into a volume pedal housing, and, although there was no way he could have known it at the time, he changed the world. That device, which would soon be dubbed the Cry Baby, found its way onto history-making tracks by Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton, and those sounds would profoundly influence subsequent generations of guitarists like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Slash, and many, many others.

Players and fans alike were captivated by the Cry Baby Wah’s expressive sounds, but the original pedals produced by Thomas Organ showed remarkable inconsistency in their components and quality control. This led to significant sonic variations, forcing players like Hendrix to go through six or seven pedals before finding one that sounded right. In 1981, Thomas Organ Company went out of business, and production of the Cry Baby Wah ceased. And that could have been the end of it.

History would prove otherwise, thankfully, as Dunlop acquired and resurrected the Cry Baby brand the following year, ushering the wah wah effect into a whole new era and introducing a level of quality and consistency that never existed before. Dunlop’s engineers carefully scrutinized every component—potentiometers, switches, inductors, and more—and their efforts culminated in the GCB95 Cry Baby® Standard Wah: a high-quality, ultra-reliable wah pedal for a new generation of guitar players.

The innovation didn’t stop there. The Cry Baby line has grown to include a range of unparalleled tonal and functional diversity, from the straightforward plug-in-and-play Jimi Hendrix™ Wah—painstakingly researched and crafted for sonic authenticity—to the super-flexible Cry Baby® 535Q Multi-Wah.

The 535Q was a result of listening to all of the guys I was working with.

Known as the Swiss Army Knife of wah pedals, the 535Q design was based on feedback CEO Jimmy Dunlop received from numerous artists.

“I was doing artist relations at the time,” he says, “and the 535Q was a result of listening to all of the guys I was working with and trying to come out with something that would satisfy them all.” With the 535Q, players can choose from six different frequency ranges, with controls to shape and boost the effect for even greater flexibility.

A recent release brought Dunlop’s commitment to both legacy and innovation full circle with the creation of the Clyde McCoy® Cry Baby® Wah. Inspired by the very first production wah pedal, it synthesizes more than 30 years of Cry Baby engineering to bring modern quality and reliability to the classic Halo inductor sound of the coveted original.

Further enriching the Cry Baby line’s diversity are the signature pedals. These wahs, which are designed to meet the specific gigging and recording needs of the world’s top players, give all guitarists the ability to grab a piece of their favorite artist’s sonic mojo. Guitar legends from Buddy Guy and Joe Bonamassa to Dimebag Darrell and Eddie Van Halen have worked closely with Dunlop to develop their own custom Cry Baby pedals. The most recent addition, the John Petrucci Cry Baby® Wah—designed in conjunction with its masterful namesake—is a modern tone tweaker’s dream come true, combining all the fine-tuning abilities of the Cry Baby Rack Wah into a standard Cry Baby pedal housing.

Dunlop continues to respond to players’ needs with the introduction of the Cry Baby Mini series of pedals. With a housing that’s half the size of a standard Cry Baby pedal—though its full sweep is retained—the Cry Baby® Mini Wah gives guitarists three wahs in one, including the standard GCB95, without sacrificing precious pedalboard space. Likewise, the Cry Baby® Bass Mini Wah packs a ton of toneful expression into the mini housing, while keeping all of the original 105Q’s functionality and low-end thunder. The newest member of the line is the Jimi Hendrix™ Cry Baby® Mini Wah, crafted to deliver the same dynamic tonal sweep of Jimi’s original Italian-made Thomas Organ unit with half the footprint of a standard wah.

When you step on a Cry Baby Wah, you exercise your freedom of expression, loud and clear. The world’s top guitar players, past and present, have relied on it since its inception to sharpen and hone their musical voice and make themselves heard. You’ve got something to say. Say it with a Cry Baby Wah.

For all of the genres and subgenres that rock ’n’ roll gave rise to, distortion is one element that links them all the way back to the beginning. Just listen to the fuzzy tones on Ike Turner’s “Rocket 88” and Goree Carter’s “Rock Awhile,” which are widely recognized as the first rock songs ever recorded. Distortion introduced a whole new attitude to musical expression that attracted rebels and free spirits and free thinkers while disturbing the sensibilities of those who preferred an easy listening experience.

Like penicillin, distortion was discovered by accident. Players forced to use faulty, damaged, or cheap, poorly made amplifiers liked what happened when they plugged in and cranked up the volume. Before long, players were trying to get the sound on purpose by intentionally damaging their equipment—Link Wray is famous for having punched holes in his amp’s speaker with a pencil he found lying around the studio.

WHAT IS DISTORTION, ANYWAY?

First, let’s talk about harmonics. When you play a note on your guitar, the sound you hear is made up of a fundamental frequency—the pure note—along with multiples of that frequency, which are called harmonics. If you feed your instrument’s signal into any device that changes the signal’s harmonic content in a certain fashion, you get the sound that we call distortion. There are numerous ways to change the harmonic content of your signal, but for our purposes we only need to look at three of them. Each changes harmonic content by generating additional frequencies.

The first and most basic way to generate harmonic content is to push your instrument’s signal, which is the voltage generated by your guitar’s pickups, beyond an amp or pedal’s headroom.

As a sound wave, your instrument signal sits between two boundaries called rails. Headroom is the space between the rails. If you crank your amp so that your signal’s peaks push against the rails, those peaks start to get clipped off of your signal. This is how tube amp distortion is created.

Pedal distortion is usually achieved by the other two methods: using the circuit to clip your signal before it runs out of headroom or using transistors, which generate extra harmonics because of their nature as imperfect amplifiers.

Each of these methods creates distortion, an umbrella that covers overdrive, distortion and fuzz. The difference is a matter of degree—how much are you clipping your signal?

OVERDRIVE

Overdrive is the sound you get when you crank a tube amp to that rich, gritty sweet spot. This clips your signal some, but not too much. Overdrive pedals are designed to both emulate and complement the sound of an overdriven tube amplifier.

For example—running an OD pedal through a clean amp will provide smooth, mellow grit while running it through a slightly overdriven tube amp will stack the gain from both and produce a very thick and saturated sound that’s closer to distortion but still retains the tubey warmth of your amp.

Overdrive pedals typically use a two-step process. First, hi-fidelity amplifiers called op-amps are used to boost to your signal. At a certain point, diodes are triggered to soft-clip the boosted signal, generating harmonic content. The type of diode used can have a dramatic effect on the pedal’s tone—LED—which has a wide open, transparent sound—and silicon—which is more biting with a bit of compression—are the most common.

The MXR® Double-Double™ Overdrive is the perfect example of an overdrive circuit—and it’s got Lo and Hi Gain modes for extra versatility. Let’s see how the signal for each looks on the oscilloscope.

With a bump in gain, the peaks get sharper, and the overdrive has a more aggressive sound. Notice, however, that the peaks are still intact. We haven’t completely slammed our signal against the rails—yet.

DISTORTION

Distortion is the technical term for all the different sounds you get from clipping a signal, but in common parlance it refers to the middle ground—a signal that’s clipped harder than overdrive, and is therefore much more aggressive, while retaining more articulation than fuzz.

Distortion pedals produce much more gain than most overdrive pedals, so players generally use them with a clean amp. As with overdrive pedals, distortion pedals tend to use op-amps and diodes to clip your signal. The MXR Super Badass® Distortion is one such pedal.

Notice that the peaks are just starting to get shaved off. But we’re still not smashing into the rails yet—we’ve got one more type of dirt to cover.

FUZZ

Fuzz was the first type of distortion to appear in pedal form, originally designed to sound like your amp was faulty or your speaker was damaged. Amp settings don’t matter much at this point—your signal is getting totally clipped.

Unlike overdrive and distortion pedals, fuzz pedals use transistors to instead of op-amps to add gain to your signal. Where op-amps are hi-fi, transistors are by nature very lo-fi—they add a ton of harmonic content to your signal as soon as they start to amplify it. The type of transistor a fuzz circuit uses can drastically affect fuzz tone. Generally speaking, germanium transistors produce a warmer and smoother fuzz while silicon transistors produce a brighter, more aggressive fuzz.

The MXR Super Badass Variac Fuzz uses silicon transistors, so it has a nice cutting tone. What makes this pedal unique among other Dunlop fuzzes, though, is its Variac control, which allows you to adjust the amount of voltage—and therefore headroom—available.

You can adjust the Variac control from 5v to 15v. This image shows what the signal looks like at the 5v setting. As you can see, the peaks are totally clipped off. There isn’t a lot of room to move around before your signal smacks into the rails, creating a gnarly, splatty sound.

Increasing the voltage to the default ±9v smooths out the edges a bit, but the peaks are still flattened up against the rails. At this level, the Super Badass Variac Fuzz sounds like a chainsaw in a lightning storm.

At 15v, this pedal has a lot more headroom than most fuzzes. This produces a super smooth and transparent signal that’s more akin to overdrive, but it’s more like a transistor’s interpretation of what the op-amp + diode combination produces in a pedal such as the Double Double Overdrive.

The harmonic content generated by transistors removes the need for a diode to clip the signal but that doesn’t mean you can’t combine transistors with diodes for a whole ’nother level of super hard-clipped saturation. The Way Huge® Russian-Pickle™ Fuzz, for example, combines silicon transistors with silicon diode clipping to create a thick and groovy sound with a pronounced midrange.

THE WRAP

The science of distortion can seem pretty esoteric, but in simple terms we can see that the differences between overdrive, distortion and fuzz have to do with how hard you clip your signal. Depending on the shade of distortion you’re looking for, you’ll find amps and pedals using various methods to throw your signal into dirt mode.

There’s a ton of effects out there that do all manner of badass things to your guitar signal, generating everything from face-melting saturation to atmospheric soundscapes. It’s tempting to pack your pedalboard with these types of pedals, but there’s another class of gear—often overlooked—that you should seriously consider. We’re talking about utilitarian pedals. They’re tools more than they are effects—not fancy or flashy, but they can make your life much easier on stage.

Playing live is not the same as playing in the studio or in the practice space, where you have much more control over all the various factors that can effect the way you sound. When you play a gig, you’re at the mercy of the venue’s acoustics and sound tech.

Here’s a list of pedals that allow you to retain as much control over your sound as possible when playing live.

Equalizer

When playing out, one of the first issues you’re going to have to deal with is adapting your tone to various physical spaces or unfamiliar backline equipment. Your most basic line of defense in these situations is an EQ pedal, which allows you to fine-tune your sound by cutting or boosting specific frequencies.

MXR® has two great options: the Six Band EQ and the Ten Band EQ. Modern classics, both have been upgraded with noise-reduction circuitry, true bypass switching, brighter LEDs for increased visibility, and a lightweight aluminum housing.

The Six Band covers all the essential guitar frequencies, from 100Hz to 3.kHz, and each can be boosted or cut by 18dB. If you’re in a mind to save space, this is the EQ for you, as it comes in at the same size as the Phase 90.

The Ten Band EQ gives you control over a wider range of frequencies, from 31.25Hz to 16kHz, which you can cut or boost by 12dB. This extended range makes it perfect for bass players as well as guitar players. For further fine-tuning, you can also cut or boost your signal at both the input and output stages. Finally, there’s a second output so you can run two separate signal chains.

Having either EQ on your board allows you to tune your guitar or bass rig to any venue in short order. Just remember to tune with your ears, not your eyes.

If you want a simpler, less transparent and more “sauced up” tone-shaper, the Micro Amp+ is another great option to consider for both guitar players and bass players. It builds on the classic Micro Amp circuit with EQ controls, low-noise op amps, and true bypass switching. This is a pretty versatile pedal—it can be used as a boost, if you have enough headroom; an OD, if your headroom is lower; and as a line driver/ buffer.

Compressor

Some players consider compression to just be a studio thing—unless you’re using a more “effect” style pedal such as the Dyna Comp® Compressor—but compression can also serve you well on stage. It helps even out your signal, ensuring that nothing gets too loud or too soft by limiting the dynamic range.

The MXR®Studio Compressor and Bass Compressor are perfect for this application. Their Attack, Release, Ratio, Input, and Output controls make it easy to dial in the desired threshold, from subtle peak limiting to hard squashed compression. Use the ten gain-reduction status LEDs to check reaction speed in real time. Equipped with CHT™ Constant Headroom Technology, these compressors also provide a ton of headroom for clear and transparent performance.

Buffer

When you run your signal from your instrument to your amp though long cables and/or through a large array of effects with varying impedance, players often experience line level or treble loss. A buffer such as the MXR® CAE MC406 addresses this problem quite nicely.

It comes in a small, rugged housing and can add up to +6dB of gain to your signal with its front-facing slider, making up for signal loss that can occur when combining effects with different impedance levels. Hi and Lo cut switches help you to fine-tune signal recovery. The CAE Buffer also comes with a convenient 9VDC power output jack, for powering another pedal, along with an extra output for a tuner, separate effects chain or amp. On the inside, you can set whether to receive a buffered or unbuffered signal.

The CAE Buffer can be placed before, after, and sometimes in the middle of the effects chains to help drive things along.

Direct Input Box

This one’s a no-brainer for bass players. Chances are, the venue’s sound tech will want to run your signal to the FOH. If you don’t have your own DI box, you’ll have to use theirs, leaving your tone in their hands. Having a DI box such as the MXR®Bass DI+ or the Bass Preamp allows you to go direct while retaining control over your own sound.

The Bass Preamp features separate Input and Output level controls and a 3-band EQ section with sweepable midrange—from 250hz to 1khz—for extensive tonal flexibility. It’s all delivered super clean with high headroom thanks to our own Constant Headroom Technology™, and you can use the Pre/Post EQ switch to set whether or not your Direct Out signal is affected by the Bass Preamp’s EQ section. And of course, the Bass Preamp features a Ground Lift switch in case you encounter ground loop hum.

The Bass DI+ combines a three-band EQ with a switchable distortion channel, including a noise gate, a Phantom/Ground switch, an unaffected parallel output for a tuner or separate signal chain, and of course an XLR direct out.

Volume Pedal

Putting a volume pedal on your board allows you to change your output level quickly and without having to stop playing. It also allows you choose where in your signal chain to adjust volume—relying on only on your instrument’s volume control for output dynamics can result in a weaker signal being fed to your pedalboard.

The Volume (X)™ Mini Pedal is a great pedalboard-friendly option—it’s durable and solidly built with a lightweight aluminum chassis, aggressive non-slip tread, and our patented Low Friction Band-Drive for a smooth range of motion and consistent, reliable performance. For maximum comfort and precision, the DVP4’s rocker tension is fully adjustable. This pedal can also be used for expression purposes, but that’s an entirely different function.

Two common placements for volume pedals are pre-gain, before distortion pedals, and post-gain, after distortion pedals. A volume pedal placed pre-gain is used much like a volume knob on a guitar. When the volume pedal is placed post-gain, a lot of players prefer to use it to adjust the overall volume of your signal without effecting the gain structure of any overdrive, distortion, or fuzz pedal in your chain.

A/B Box

An A/B box allows you to route your instrument’s signal to two separate output paths. With the MXR® A/B Box, you can switch between amps or run them both at the same time with different effect configurations, which opens you up to a whole range of tonal options. You can also use this pedal to create separate chains within your main signal chain.

Noise Gate

A noise gate automatically mutes your signal below a certain output threshold. This comes in handy if you’ve got any noise—often caused by super high gain pedal or amp settings or a venue’s faulty wiring—interfering with your signal. Dial in the right setting, and your signal will be totally silent until you start playing. Noise gates are usually placed at the end of the signal chain or after any gain pedals in an FX loop.

The MXR® Smart Gate® Noise Gate is equipped with three selectable types of noise reduction, covering just about every noisy signal situation you’re likely to face.

It bites down on sizzle and hum but lets the smallest detail of your playing through, sensing precisely when and how fast to engage without getting in your way. It lets you can wring every last bit of sustain out of chords without being cut off, reacting gradually to long, sustained notes and quickly to short, syncopated notes while preserving picking dynamics and harmonic overtones.

Power Supply

Maybe this one is too obvious, but hey—it’s good to be thorough. Why worry about a bunch of batteries when you can power all of your pedals with a single source?

The MXR® Iso-Brick™ Power Supply is just such a source, and a very convenient one at that: its compact and lightweight, making it vert pedalboard-friendly, with 10 fully isolated outputs that accommodate a variety of voltage and current requirements: two 9V outputs at 100mA, two 9V outputs at 300mA, two 9V outputs at 450mA, two 18V outputs at 250mA, and two variable outputs adjustable from 6V to 15V at 250mA. The two variable outputs can be used to emulate voltage “sag,” a drained battery effect sought by many vintage tonechasers. The Iso-Brick Power Supply also features power on/off and connection status LEDs so that you can quickly troubleshoot any pedal or connection issues.

For a simpler power solution, the DC Brick™ Power Supply is also a great choice. With eight 9V outputs and two 18V outputs, it will power just about any analog pedal, and each 9v output has a red LED that illuminates if there is a short.

Obviously, if you used all these pedals at once, you could take up an entire world-tour sized pedalboard. You still need room for your Fuzz Face® Distortions, Carbon Copy® Delays, and Cry Baby® Wahs, so use this list to address your particular needs as a gigging musician. Which of these pedals might make your life easier when you step onto the stage?